We were all DevOps, once#
When I started my journey through the IT industry, which was in middle 2000’s, average software engineer was expected to be a jack-of-all-trades type of person. I worked in teams in which software engineers were supposed to do all of backend, frontend, db reporting, testing, devops and documentation. I did not consider it being a stretch. The amount of knowledge was manageable and benefits were obvious: relatively cheap, fast, small teams. None of these tasks were of lesser importance and all team members knew it.
When I moved to software services few years later, the situation started to change. We were building teams that consisted of highly specialized yet less demanding, junior roles. For instance:
- SQL report writer / data analyst
- PSD-to-HTML / junior frontend
- Unit test writer (“90% of code must be tested”)
- Technical writer (API documentations)
Teams grew, and senior software engineers became more specialized with many of them becoming software architects. When cloud turned infrastructure into software, software architects turned into cloud architects. There was no shortage of candidates for junior roles and both candidates and budget owners were happy with compensation levels. Values of software projects covered all costs.
So it all made sense. Especially from the service delivery standpoint; bigger headcount meant more money and it is generally easier to hire specialized, junior roles.
Until it didn’t.
It was never the right setup#
I never believed in this. IT is high tech. It is demanding, complex and rapidly changing. Few people are genuinely capable to perform in it and even fewer enjoy the idea of spending most of their waking weeks in front of an IDE. During my CTO-ship, I promoted the T-shaped-skills-profile approach, in which people specialize on the solid foundation of breadth of their industry knowledge. It allows for smaller, nimbler teams; fewer people means fewer meetings. It makes doubling up natural. Crucially, in service setting, where people switch assignments and tech stacks, it does not leave you with non-billed “SQL report writer” on your payroll.
Coming of age#
AI is blamed for endangering numerous, mainly junior positions in the IT services industry. Some reckon it will make the seniority funnel dry out - seniors have to be juniors first, which is not possible, when companies abstain from hiring them.
I do not think it is a valid concern. These juniors in question were never poised to grow. They made it to the industry because it was easy money, as opposed to having passion and talent. They develop their skills slower and often are forever stuck in middle-seniority positions. They do not become your client-facing stars nor your fix-it men.
AI is the culprit. It writes SQL queries, unit tests and many other types of content with at-least-human quality. And it is great! It is an opportunity to go back to nimble, smart teams of experts that may have no time to deal with all the IT red tape themselves, but know what to ask for and are able to judge whatever AI throws at them. With way fewer meetings.
Thank you, AI.